The Creative Casanova
by MusicalNinja15
Summary: Tigress, the master of Tiger Kung Fu, has a huge problem. It's much worse than any bandit or villain the feline has ever faced. Will Tigress learn to push away her perfectionism and ask for help? Or will she watch her reputation crumble into pieces... Includes Po & Tigress Friendship.
1. Problems

A/N: Hello! I am back! Yay! You do not know how happy I am to be posting this! Things are just getting seriously crazy over here and I am extremely happy that I am getting a chance to start a new story!

Now, you all may know that since things are busy, this story is going to be really slow with updating. But, right now I am so desperate to post something that I just had to start The Creative Casanova!

First off, thank you for clicking this! It makes me so happy that my summary interested you, and followers thank you for supporting me and choosing to keep reading my stories!

So, this story takes place between the KFP1 and KFP2. It is not going to be like a LoA episode. There might be some silly things involved, but it is definitely not LoA.

Tigress may seem out of character, but that is because that this story is between the two films.

This story is probably going to be on the short side. Maybe 12 or 15 chapters. The first two or three chapters may be boring just because things are getting started.

Anyway, thank you all for everything! Enjoy! And also, don't forget to leave a review for me!

Disclaimer: I don't own Kung Fu Panda…

* * *

_**The Creative Casanova**_

_Chapter One: Problems_

* * *

_Prologue_

As far as time goes, the warriors of China have protected kings and queens, innocent people, and their companions from evil's clutches.

Although saving people and kicking bad guy's butts are necessary in the martial art, there is much more to it. Kung Fu means "Excellence of Self".

Stop and think about that for a moment.

"Excellence of self" means what?

Tell me what you that it means. And don't just say "Being excellent of course!" To me at least, "Excellence of self means having life skills, honor, integrity, loyalty, respect, etc. It means being yourself no matter what happens and to do what is right.

Now you're thinking, "What has this got to do with a story title that says The Creative Casanova?"

I am trying to make a point that there is more to life than just doing things by the book.

People do that, they _have_ to do exactly what the rules say or do. They cannot seem to express themselves and be creative.

How many of you have been given five minutes to do something completely from scratch? Whether it is baking, writing a story, composing music, or making a dance routine?

I have and it is really hard!

I seriously cannot seem to make things up!

Yeah yeah, now you're thinking "Why are you writing a story then?"

This is kind of different, the characters, settings, and personalities are already made up. All I have to do is expand on them.

Now back to the point. There are people who have a hard time being creative.

I am one of those people, and so is a Chinese tiger named Master Tigress…

This story is about a little challenge she had…

Creativity….

* * *

All was well in the little village of China known as the Valley of Peace. Burglaries were scarce, the people were happy, and a celebration was coming up and being prepared.

The Jade Palace was the most ultimate landmark a person could ever visit. The birthplace of the ancient fighting style called Kung Fu had been invented right there in the old palace.

The Jade Palace is a most peaceful place. The trees sway to a gentle breeze, the flowers blossom, and the delicate shadows dance around flickers of light. It is certainly a sight to see.

_SLAM!_

Suddenly, the door to the hundred year-old Training Hall slammed shut and a very angry tiger stormed towards the student barracks.

Master Tigress, a Kung Fu Legend, was very, very, mad. No, scratch that, she was furious.

Angry thoughts clouded her mind as she continued to stomp her feet towards the other end of the training grounds. She couldn't believe it. Out of all things, why did Master Shifu have to give her that task?

She had tried everything in the past few weeks to accomplish it, but yet, today she was reminded of it… the dreaded assignment.

She couldn't do it, she just couldn't. There was no possible way she was going to achieve her challenge in a few simple days. It was hopeless. She was going to fail.

Her angry thoughts were soon interrupted by a black and white panda. Po, the Dragon Warrior was running, trying to catch up to the enraged tiger.

He called out hopelessly. "Hey, Tigress! Wait for me! I-" Po grunted as he tripped over a pebble.

Tigress scoffed to herself…as if the panda's words were going to make her stop walking.

She continued to stomp at her fast pace, she did not want to be bothered by the panda. She blinked twice as she realized that she was very surprised at her own thoughts.

Gradually, over time, she had become accustomed to the new warrior in the Jade Palace and she could tolerate his goofy behavior. But today, he was the last thing she needed. So she kept on trudging along. The tiger figured that he would get the point and go away.

But Po didn't give up and he finally caught up with her.

"Hey are you- wait…" he huffed heavily. He lifted up a finger. "Let me…catch…my…breath…"

Tigress reluctantly stopped stomping her feet, crossed her arms, and put on her "What do you want, I have no time for this." face.

If the panda had been so desperate to catch up to her, the tiger figured that what he had to tell her was important.

Po had his hands on his knees of his worn patched-up pants. He looked up to his friend to see that she was actually waiting for him. He studied the expression on her face. It looked to him like the "Make it quick, I am busy." face.

The panda took a last, long, deep breath and slowly stood up from his position.

"Are you okay?" he asked curiously.

Tigress furrowed her eyebrows. That was it? That was what the panda had raced so quickly to ask her? If she was alright?

Apparently, Po had not gotten the clue when she had stood up rashly in the Training Hall, yelled out of frustration, and stormed out of the room.

Of course she wasn't "Okay".

She frowned as if Po's question was new to her. "Why would I not be alright?" she lied.

Po coughed. "Well, you seem like you're really, really, really, really,-"

The feline clenched her pearly white, sharp teeth. The panda was getting really, really, really, annoying. "I am fine!" she snapped viciously.

Po jumped back by the tiger's aggressiveness. He held his hands up in defense. "Okay, okay… you're fine…"

She lifted her head sharply. "Good, now if you are done with your questions, I will be leaving now." Then Tigress spun on her heel and began to strut away.

Why on Earth had the Dragon Warrior run all that way to ask if she was alright? That panda had so many weird reasons for things. Tigress huffed angrily as her situation came back to the present.

"Wait!" Po exclaimed suddenly.

Tigress froze and turned back furiously, making a ring of dirt rise around her. "What do you want, Po?" she asked irritably.

"I…" Po stopped briefly and chose his words carefully. "I…um…was wondering…um…If you wanted some help with…well…you know…"

Tigress' nostrils flared and she curled her paws into a fist. "I do not need any help!" she growled.

"But I thought that maybe I could-"

"Po, I have been doing Kung Fu for almost twenty years, I am a master, and I am a warrior. I can certainly figure out what to do. I do not need yours or anyone's help." She claimed, her chest heaving up and down in irritation.

"Okay, okay…" Po stammered. The panda was a little hurt by the feline's choice of words. She was clearly very angry. "Well, if you want any tips, I'm happy to help you… Let me know if you change your mind…"

With that, the Dragon Warrior walked away hastily. He didn't want to get clobbered by an angry Master Tigress.

Tigress frowned and continued on her way back to the student barracks. _Grrr…_ She thought. _Me, needing help?! I can figure it out myself…_

She finally reached her destination, ran to her room, and flopped herself onto her small, red cot.

Her mind was suddenly blank and she felt frozen. She had no idea what to do with her problem…

If she failed this task, she was sure that her reputation would crumble into pieces. She would no longer be respected as a Kung Fu Warrior. She stared into space and decided that if she didn't act soon, she would be doomed.

So she began to think, as fast as she could, for a possible solution…

* * *

Po shook his head. He couldn't believe Tigress. In the eight months that he had been living at the Jade Palace, he had never seen Tigress this angry. The only other time she had been this mean was when he had first arrived to the palace. What was wrong with her? Was she sick or something? Why had she stormed out of the Training Hall? Was it something that Master Shifu had said to her?

Come to think of it, Tigress had been acting strangely lately. She had been very quiet, well; she was quieter than she usually was. She had been keeping herself isolated in her room for more than a few days now. Po figured that she better find out how to fix her problem soon before the Ceremonial Festival of the Masters in a few days.

The panda turned back to get a last glance of the feline, but alas, she was nowhere in sight. She had probably returned to her quarters to beat herself up mentally with trash thoughts.

The Dragon Warrior returned his focus back to the Training Hall where Master Shifu and the legendary Furious "Four" were standing. They were watching to see if Tigress was going to come back to the training grounds.

Po hung his head slightly as he stumbled up the steps to the Training Hall and joined his comrades. Master Shifu held his paws together. He seemed worried about the incident that had just happened. Apparently, the red panda, snake, bird, monkey, and praying mantis had just witnessed Po trying to talk to the cross feline.

Crane lifted a wing as Po approached them. "What was her problem?"

Po shook his head. "I don't know, Crane. I was just trying to figure that out…"

* * *

A/N: How was that!? Pretty awesome, huh? What is Tigress so mad about? Take a guess…

Please tell me what you think excellence of self means... Best answer gets a shout out!

Don't forget to leave a review and tell me what you think. I have missed you all so much!

Catch you later!


	2. Morning Madness

**A/N:** Hi everyone! I am back! I just realized last night that it has been a month since I updated this story. Yikes! I thought I would get this chapter up today.

**Right now in the story,** Tigress is in her room thinking like she was in the last chapter. **After the first line break,** the rest of the chapter is a really a flashback of the morning. I thought I would tell you all that because I didn't want anyone to get confused...

Thank you for all those wonderful reviews, favorites, and follows! It really meant a lot!

Now, the moment you have been waiting for... **the winner** of the best explanation of "Excellence of Self" goes to... Sweetluckygirl. You all had very nice definitions of the term and I had a hard time deciding. Thanks for participating and taking a guess at it! Make sure to check out Sweetluckygirl's stories too!

Now, on with the chapter... **don't forget** to review, favorite, and follow!

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Kung Fu Panda...

* * *

_Chapter Two: Morning Madness_

* * *

Everything seemed like a big white blur. The day had happened so fast, so quickly. It had seemed that the dreaded news had snuck up on her suddenly, like a whisper, an assassin.

The tiger curled herself into a ball and closed her amber eyes shut.

She had overcome obstacles before, but why was this hard to her? Why was she struggling? She was a Kung Fu master. She should be used to these kinds of challenges.

She could see the rumors being spread about in her mind, how she failed, how she wasn't the master she was supposed to be.

People would make fun of her again and call her names, Master Shifu would treat her coldly once more, then, one day, she would be sent on fewer missions until she was staying at the Jade Palace only for food and shelter. Tigress knew that one day she would no longer be considered a part of the Jade Palace because of this situation.

She shivered and blinked back tears. It couldn't happen, she wouldn't let it happen.

* * *

The day had started out fine as usual. They had awoken to the sound of the gong to greet Master Shifu.

The aging red panda had explained that there was something important they were to discuss during training. Tigress had smiled slightly. They were probably going to make the arrangements for the upcoming festival.

Breakfast, to say the least, was very irritating. Three of the men, Po, Monkey, and Mantis would not stop laughing about some kind of prank they had pulled on Crane.

Tigress hadn't cared. She was focusing more on what to expect at training than the avian stepping into his calligraphy ink.

"And then the face you made!" Monkey exclaimed to the blushing bird. The primate threw his hands up in the air. "It was priceless!"

Mantis hopped up and down on top of the primate's shoulder. "And when you saw that Monkey and I did it, your eyes looked like they were going to pop out of your skull!" the insect snickered.

Po, the Dragon Warrior joined in the conversation. "Wow! I would have paid to see that happen!" he chuckled.

"It's not that funny, guys!" Crane protested while pulling his rice hat over his eyes. "Seriously, will you cut it out?"

The giant panda, monkey, and praying mantis were silent for at least a millisecond, looked at each other at the same exact time, and burst into hysterical laughter. In fact, they were laughing so hard, tears were trickling down their cheeks.

Viper rolled her blue eyes and gave a look of sympathy to her fellow warrior. "Okay, _gentlemen_, enough is enough." She started out sweetly, then her tone rose suddenly. "You can stop now…" She threatened as she raised her patterned iron tail in the air.

Po and the pranksters stopped, aware that if they didn't, they would be hurting very badly.

Po wiped away a small tear. "Crane, I'm sorry for laughing at you." The panda suddenly pointed to his other two friends across from him. "It's those two!" he complained. "They started it!"

Crane waved his wing, "Ah…its fine, Po." He spoke. "Actually, the way you all were laughing made me want to laugh too…"

"Oh…" Monkey giggled tediously.

The next five minutes consisted of laughter so loud; it was hurting Tigress' sensitive eardrums.

_So immature… _She had thought to herself.

The feline excused herself (not that it was heard) and headed to the quiet and serene training hall to meet Master Shifu.

* * *

To her, training was a breeze. The way she could flip in the air by doing her famous Tahila Leap was breath taking. Being able to break the swinging clubs on her usual obstacle filled her with high confidence. The tiger loved her strength, her attitude, and her "seriousness" (as Po would say). She loved it all.

As she trained, Master Shifu pointed out her strengths and weaknesses. It was very nice to have some one-on-one training time with her foster father for a change. Everything had sort of been different now for Tigress after Po defeated the evil Tai-Lung. Shifu had finally told her he was proud of her the night of Tai-Lung's defeat.

That evening, Tigress had felt accepted and loved by the father she had lived with for over twenty years. The tiger had decided to cease torturing herself and stopped punching the iron wood trees. There was no need to do it anymore.

Tigress felt happy these days. Although, that didn't mean she had to be happy-go-lucky all the time, but she admitted to herself that she wasn't the same feline she was a few years ago. She had realized that she wasn't angry at the world anymore.

"Tigress, where are the others?" Shifu had asked after the Kung Fu warrior had finished her usual routine.

Tigress raised an eyebrow in a sophisticated manner. "They are slacking as usual, Master Shifu." She replied. "And at this rate, I surmise that they are rolling on the kitchen floor trying to calm down their excitement."

The red panda raised an eyebrow right back at her. "Tigress, are you trying to tell me that they are laughing?" A thin smile started to spread across the Grandmaster's lips at his daughter's choice of words.

She nodded in reply. "Exactly, they are fooling around and wasting precious time when you have stated that we are to discuss important things today."

His smile grew and he chuckled softly. "There is nothing wrong with having a bit of fun, Tigress." He spoke as he began to open the wooden door leading outside. "But nevertheless, I will go and tell them that it is time to train." Shifu slipped halfway through the exit and turned to look at his apprentice a final time.

"Thank you, master." Tigress said. "But before you go in there, I would advise you to cover your ears."

Shifu laughed surprisingly and pointed Oogway's staff towards her. "Will do Tigress, will do…"

* * *

With each step he took, Shifu could hear the noise getting louder and louder. He tried to ponder about what on Earth his apprentices could be laughing about. What could possibly be more humorous than Po's "Master Shifu" imitation?

When the red panda was five feet in front of the door to the student barracks, he realized that it wasn't laughter he was hearing, it was clanging. He could faintly hear someone talking.

Shifu opened the back door to the student barracks and strolled down the hallway, taking note of what looked like foot prints on the floor leading into Crane's dormitory. Inside the avian's room was ink splattered all over the walls and floor. The Grandmaster scowled; he would have whoever created this mess get on their paws and knees to scrub the ink off after training.

When the Kung Fu master got to the kitchen, what he saw in there was so surprising that all he could do was lean into the doorway and gape with an open mouth at the scene.

Out of all the crazy things Shifu had seen Po do, this had to be the most bizarre.

The Dragon Warrior and the rest of the Furious Five were cleaning the kitchen up. That was good, but it was the way they were cleaning that made Shifu want to smile.

Po, the panda had taught his four companions a fun and creative way to tidy up. It was what he and his father, Mr. Ping, would do after the customers were gone from the well-known noodle shop.

Crane was washing the dishes.

Viper was drying the plates, pans, and spoons.

Monkey was putting away the dishes.

Mantis was cleaning the table and making leftovers for the rest of the day.

Last but not least, Po was sweeping the wooden floor.

However, the way they were doing their chores was like they were playing musical instruments.

_SLOSH_! -went the water...

_WIPE_! -went the towel…

_SCRATCH_! -went the sponge…

_BANG_! -went Monkey smashing some pots together...

_SWEEP_! -went the broom...

The little song they were putting together went a bit like this:

~Slosh, slosh, wipe, bang, bang, bang, scratch, slosh, slosh, wipe, sweep, sweep, scratch~

The musical melody went on and on and on as if it was everlasting. Viper had even started rattling her tail like a maraca.

"Solo time!" Po called out to the others. The panda cleared his throat and began to sing.

_I'm sweeping the floor_

_Now I'm going towards the door_

_Master Shifu's standing there_

_We both are panda bears!_

The Furious Five looked up in shock and embarrassment and immediately stopped what they were doing. The flowing song had faded away, yet Po continued to sing.

Master Shifu, the red panda bear, coughed. "Panda…"

But Po wouldn't stop singing. The Dragon Warrior continued to sing his heart out while sweeping the floor.

_Master Shifu is looking shocked_

As the giant panda tried to sing the next made up verse, Shifu found something inside of himself. Surprisingly, the Grandmaster cut Po off and sang in a totally off-key voice:

_You better put this singing to a stop_

Suddenly, the room went awkwardly silent

Looks were cast among the six animals standing in the room and Shifu managed to stifle a laugh at his own foolishness. But alas, the attempt to hide the chuckle did not work; the tension was too much to hold in. For the third time that day, laughter filled the small room.

* * *

Tigress had waited patiently at the steps leading to the training hall.

Where were Master Shifu and the others? She did not mind waiting a little bit, that way the tiger could have some practice time to herself. But Master Shifu had said that there were important things to discuss, and since these things were important, there was no time to waste. So there she was, patience wearing thin, waiting for her fellow teammates.

Luckily, several minutes later, the feline spotted Crane flying over the large gates to the open training grounds. The avian was soon followed by the rest of the team.

"There you are!" Tigress groaned. "Finally!"

Master Shifu gave a nod. "Yes, Tigress," he said. "We are here, _finally_."

"Sorry for the wait, Tigress," Monkey apologized. The primate suddenly chuckled as if remembering something. "We were all cleaning up the kitchen."

Tigress crossed her arms and made a face. "Well, at least you were working…" she said as she sighed deeply.

Mantis hopped on top of Viper's patterned head. "Actually, Po didn't make it such a burden! It was almost as if we were playing a game!" he exclaimed excitedly.

The tiger looked to Crane and gave him a 'You went along with this?' look. Crane was one of the mature warriors. Usually, when she had to go on a mission, she left the bird in charge of the Five and Po.

Crane nodded his head in response to Tigress. "It was a really creative way to get things done." he spoke.

Grandmaster Shifu had looked to Po, the Dragon Warrior in awe. "You really made that song up right on the spot?" he asked.

Po shrugged and smiled. "Yeah, I'm kind of used to that sort of stuff. It's really fun to make things up in split seconds." The panda explained.

"Oh, is that how you make excuses?" Mantis perked up.

"What?!" Po exclaimed. "I don't do that! I'm loyal to everyone, including myself!" the panda looked around worriedly, trying to find the right words. "I have integrity!" he protested.

"Calm down, Po!" Mantis soothed. "I'm just teasing you!"

Po stopped talking and made a face at the insect. "Oh…" he replied.

Master Shifu tapped his hand on Po's arm. "Po, I must say that I am very impressed with you. It was very interesting to watch you perform your chores." He paused as if realizing something. "I now can see why you can create new moves so easily." he complimented.

Po beamed with joy at the red panda's words. "Thanks, Master Shifu!" he said.

Shifu clapped his hands together twice. "All right everyone, get inside the training hall. It is about time we get started." The red panda ordered.

"Good." Tigress confirmed.

With that, the feline had bounded inside the building. However, she had been unaware that her biggest challenge was yet to come…

* * *

**A/N:** How was that? I hope I did alright. It may have seemed boring, but trust me, that little part in the kitchen** plays a vital role** in the rest of the story.

We will all find out what Tigress' situation is** in the next chapter** where the flashback will continue until the answer to what the tiger is mad about is revealed.

Hope you liked it, and **thank you** once again for just clicking on this. I would love to get a little feedback too!

You see that **box right under there**? Just type in what you thought and click submit review. You don't even have to have an account to review! **It's free!**

**Thank you all** for everything and supporting me through these tough stuff last few weeks with** my karate problem**... it means a lot to know you all have my back... and I have actually been** feeling better** thanks to the YMCA. I think that I am **officially over karate!**

Catch you later!


	3. The Challenge

**A/N:** Hello! I am back with a new chapter. I have realized that this is an extremely short chapter, but it is important. Because it is short, we will be able to have an extra chapter in the future. Thank you for all the wonderful reviews and support. I can never thank you all enough...

On to the story, the flashback is continuing. Next chapter will be back to the present time.

Disclaimer: I do not own Kung Fu Panda...

* * *

C_hapter Three: The Challenge_

* * *

The six warriors and their master strolled to the area between the Jade Tortoise of Wisdom and The Gauntlet of Wooden Warriors and sat down.

Master Shifu cleared his throat, "Alright students," he said. "Before we discuss the upcoming events, I would like to review the joint locks we learned last week."

The six other animals nodded their heads in acknowledgement.

"Good, find a partner everyone." The red panda commanded.

The apprentices did as they were told, stood up from the ground, and found someone to practice with. They bowed to their sparring partners in respect and began to perform the joint locks.

Tigress smirked at her opponent, Monkey. "I'll make your arm so numb you'll think that it is broken." She teased as she lunged forward with a high kick.

Her partner winked. "Not if I'm fast enough!" Monkey said as he dodged out of the way of the feline's ax kick.

"Oh no, Monkey." She growled. "Now is not the time to play." She warned as the monkey began to run around in circles in a teasing fashion.

Yet, Monkey still kept trying to dodge Tigress' attacks. Finally, after it seemed like forever, the primate threw a vertical punch towards the tiger. Tigress quickly grabbed his arm, got it behind his back, and used her own arm to pressure point his shoulder.

"Ow!" Monkey exclaimed. "That hurts!

Suddenly, he pulled away from the arm lock, got Tigress into an arm bar, and put her in the joint lock. As fast as the speed of light, Tigress unexpectedly whipped out of the primate's trick, pulled herself out of the way, and sent a flying side-kick to his knee.

The monkey cried out with a grunt and fell to the ground, but hastily got back up with a kick-up. Monkey narrowed his eyes and pointed a finger at the feline. "One day I'll find a way to beat you, Tigress. One day…" he said sneakily.

Tigress furrowed her eyebrows and nodded sarcastically. "Good luck with that…" she chuckled.

"Ow, ow, ow!" a voice exclaimed. "I surrender, let me go!"

The tiger and the monkey turned around in surprise to see Mantis struggling Viper's version of the joint lock: the death grip. The snake released the praying mantis and watched him fall on the floor in a heap.

The warrior groaned. "I never want to do that again…" Mantis choked out as he pulled himself up from the ground.

The others chuckled at the insect's declaration and continued on to perform the joint lock until Master Shifu ordered them to stop.

"Well done, students. You have all improved very much on this new technique." He spoke. "Now, I would like for everyone to come sit down with me and go over the events for the Ceremonial Festival of the Masters."

The red panda placed himself on the dirt floor and took a scroll, a writing brush, and some ink that he had brought with him. Everyone gathered around him as they waited for the Grandmaster to reveal the list of events for the festival.

The Ceremonial Festival of the Masters was held every year. Every Kung Fu master from China came to celebrate being a master. It was in a way, a thank you for the warriors from the villagers for protecting them every day. It was a day of appreciation. There would be fireworks, wonderful food, and plenty of routines and demonstrations given all day long by the masters from all over China.

This year was going to be a very special year. The Ceremonial Festival of the Masters was going to be held at the Valley of Peace. All of the Grandmasters and their apprentices would travel to come to the Jade Palace for the celebration. It was also going to be Po, the Dragon Warrior's first time performing in the festival and the panda was literally counting down the days until the celebration.

Master Shifu cleared his throat as he spread out the scroll. "You are all very aware that this year is the twenty-fifth anniversary of the Ceremonial Festival of the Masters, correct?" he asked.

"Yes, I do!" Po exclaimed. "Only nine days left until the festival!" he announced.

Shifu nodded back at Po. "It seems so…" the red panda looked at the students straight in the eye. "That also means that we do not have a lot of time to prepare."

The Grandmaster took his writing brush and dipped it in the ink. "The order of events for the festival will be the same as usual." He spoke. "The hosting apprentices will perform their routine first…"

"Yes!" Po shouted out. "We get to go first!"

"Yes, the Furious Five and the Dragon Warrior will go first. Then the other apprentices will go in alphabetical order." Shifu continued as he marked something off of the scroll. "Half-way through the day, there will be a lunch break and then the festivities will continue until the dinner banquet."

The red panda looked up at Po as if he expected the giant panda to say something again. Po just smiled, rubbed his stomach in a circling motion, and licked his lips at the sound of food.

"However," Shifu paused for emphasis, keeping the suspense. "Since this year is the twenty-fifth anniversary for the festival, the Master's Council has asked for something special to be performed by the hosting apprentices…" he said.

Tigress sat up straighter at the sound of the challenge. "What might that be, Master Shifu?" the feline asked curiously.

The Grandmaster smiled brightly, he was very excited to share the news. "The Master's Council and I have decided that each and every one of you will showcase your very own creative routine!" he explained.

Everyone's eyes lit up in delight except for Tigress' at the request. Having their routine together to start to festival was already so exciting, but they also got to perform their own form by themselves?! They couldn't believe the news.

"Master," Crane asked. "Can we use weapons or does it have to be a regular open-handed form?"

"Yeah!" Monkey joined in. "I want to showcase my wooden staff!" he exclaimed.

Shifu nodded in reply. "Yes, you are more than welcome to use your weapons. It is a creative form, so you may do as you please." The red panda said.

Po's paw shot up in the air and hit the green object behind him, causing the Jade Tortoise of Wisdom to sway gently. "We get to do the creative form all by ourselves?"

Viper nodded along with Po. "Does this mean we can create the form by ourselves too?" she wondered.

"Yes, Viper and Po, since this form is creative and performed just by you, you can most certainly make it up by yourselves. Although, you can ask me for advice if you need help." The Grandmaster confirmed.

Tigress remained quiet. She was still numb from hearing the news. For weeks now, Shifu had been teaching them how to create a form from scratch and had not revealed the reason why they were practicing the technique. The feline now understood why the red panda had wanted to keep this a secret. He wanted it to be a surprise. But for the tiger, this was a nightmare.

Tigress, who had always loved protocol, had not been the best at making up creative weapons and forms. The feline had liked the traditional forms because they explained exactly how to perform them without having to expand your basic knowledge. They were easy for her.

Tigress knew for certain that she was terrible at creative composition. She had tried and tried and tried, but nothing seemed to flow right. She couldn't make things up, she was awful at it! She wasn't the slightest bit creative.

The tiger cleared her throat. "Master Shifu, is it necessary for us to participate in the creative showcasing?" she asked, silently hoping that she could back out of the challenge.

Shifu looked up from examining his checklist on the scroll. "Why yes, Tigress. I have promised the Master's Council that all of my students will perform their own creative form." The red panda answered. "It will show off your ability and knowledge of Kung Fu."

Tigress nodded quietly and didn't say another word.

Shifu went on to explain the needed items for the ceremony. "Last but not least," he said finally. "I trust that you all will have a wonderful creative form to perform for the Ceremonial Festival of the Masters. Therefore, since you have this form to create, you will all the rest of the week off to prepare." He announced.

In the midst of cheering from her comrades, Tigress jumped to her feet, clenched her paws into fists and walked quickly out of the Training Hall. Her thoughts were getting too much for her to handle and she needed to think about this challenge alone. The feline stormed out of the building without giving another thought to the others inside.

Inside herself, she knew she wouldn't be able to accomplish the challenge…she knew that she would fail.

* * *

**A/N:** Well, we have now found out what Tigress' problem is! Please tell me what you think about it all. I thought that the Ceremonial Festival of the Masters was a pretty cool idea! Hopefully I'll have another chapter up this quickly! Don't forget to review, favorite, and follow, that is what keeps a writer going.

Catch you later!


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